… the home of Deacon Blues & #JustPreachin …

Menu

The Nerd in Me

April 4th, 2019

Since ending up jobless and waiting on doctors to sort some things out for the disability process, I am often finding myself with nothing to do. Years ago, many of them, I used to enjoy Role-Playing Games. Mostly Dungeons & Dragons, but have played many over the years including World of Darkness, RiFTS, Gurps, MERPs, and Mech Warrior. I decided to get back into it.

So, RPGing can be alot of fun, but it requires other people. Those people need to find the time with their busy lives to get together in one place for several hours at a time. You need to determine a place the works for everyone which can be difficult when I am not fully able to get around easily. Then finding a way to get those people to the place to play. So far, it looks like I have found that place and some people to play. Exciting.

Now, when it comes to the pictures above… Crafting is something I have always loved to do. Usually more so on the larger side of things like designing and building my son’s desk and soon my own. Building my own headboard and eventually bunk/loft bed. That kind of thing. Even re-purposing items I find about town. This type of crafting has taken a back burner because I am now unable to do some of the work required. I have fat fingers… hey… I’m not a skinny person. Doing smaller things has not been easy. Doing smaller things on a STRICT budget… near impossible. Thank God for dollar stores! Above I put together a little custom dice box for my son, who has decided to join the RPG world for the first time. I have a few more designed for other players, but in time.

The above dice box is a small wooden box. I’m sure you have all seen them. Take apart the box. Being VERY careful… those damn screws are TINY. With my fat hands, almost lost a few. Using nail files, sand down the box to make sure to get rid of burrs and the like. Take measurements of the inside and top of the box to use for the computer side of things. Paint the box with the base color you want. Let dry. Paint again. Dry. Paint. Dry. On the computer, in Corel, design and print out the images for the inside and top of box. Glue the paper to foam core and let dry completely. Cut out the sized pieces and glue to inside and outside of box where you want them. Bead glue around the edges of the foam core. Let dry. Paint and touch up any exposed areas. Once dry, since I have been unable to afford a proper sealant, I just used glue, applying an even coat over the entire piece. Dry. Repeat. Once done, put the box all back together again. Thankfully I had help as my FAT fingers made this extremely difficult. Box done.

I know it does not look like anything special, but it took days. Most of the time spent is waiting on stuff to dry. Even with dollar store purchasing, it can get costly for these little crafts but most the items will last me quite awhile and can be used for a variety of other crafts. I has given me something to do… something to help fight the depression. It gives me small senses of accomplishment. It keeps me excited while I wait to play the game in the near future. I have other projects in the works… DM Screen… Dungeon Tiles… who knows what may come next.

Just wanted to update the blog today, and with something just a little different. So… call me a Geek… call me a Nerd… whatever. I have heard it before, but it has given me something… which is all I needed… something to focus on. Perhaps you can find your something… just don’t be afraid to look and to share.